"He liked the combative approach. He thought the Democrats were grandstanding."

The GOP’s gamble: The White House recognizes that it can do little to resist the House Dems’ demands for testimony. Republicans just hope that over time, they can argue to their base that Dems have been guilty of overreach and “show trials.”

A Republican political operative and Capitol Hill veteran told me: “It doesn’t take long for ordinary voters — who are very different from people in Washington — to start seeing participating committee members as pompous, rude and belittling, and begin to side with whoever is sitting in the hot seat.”